Arkansas flu deaths climb to 88

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The total number of flu deaths in Arkansas this season has climbed to 88.

That’s an increase of 11 over last week’s count.

The Arkansas Department of Health says 69% of the victims were unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccine history.

Since September 30, 2018, 10 nursing homes in Arkansas have reported influenza outbreaks

For Week 12 of flu season, Arkansas reported “Widespread” activity to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for geographic spread of influenza, and “High” or 10/10 for ILI (influenza-like illness) intensity.

The report released Tuesday is for the week ending March 23 and shows among flu antigen tests that can distinguish between influenza A and B virus types, 94 percent were influenza A, and 6 percent were influenza B.